A super cool church in Rutland. |
posted Mar 22, 2009 7:08 AM by Hans Hibbard
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updated Mar 22, 2009 10:03 PM
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Today is our last day in Stratton. We checked out of our hotel early this morning and the plan of the day is to go up to the mountain for Katie's competition, then after she is done we are going to drive to Boston. The advantage of driving to Boston tonight is that we will get to sleep in tomorrow before our flight. JD and I are watching the men's semi finals on the big screen. You can also watch it live on www.go211.com. After the men are done it will be Katie's turn to destroy!
And Poor poor Katie fell in both runs. First one was a throwaway from the start with coming off the rail early and then falling doing a straight air over the 1st jump. 2nd run started out better but with solid rails and a great method to stomping A KILLER back 3, she fell doing a front 5 before she was going to kill it on switch back 3 on the final jump. But she still killed it anyway and it was a great day!
By Ashley
Now we are all spending our last night together at the comfort inn. Its a crazy city here in Boston, no fun to find a place to eat at. We had a great 9:00 dinner @ taco bell YUMMY! We are pretty packed here in our hotel room, but were very excited for the deluxe continental breakfast. On top of that, we get late checkout time.
Katies flight leaves 2 hours before Hans, JD, and I does. Unluckily for her she gets into town 2 hours later than we do. Sounds like a long day for Katie.
This has been a great trip and we all had a lot of fun! But it will be nice being back at home |
posted Mar 22, 2009 6:51 AM by Hans Hibbard
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updated Mar 23, 2009 4:54 AM
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Katie has slopestyle practice from 9 to 1 today. The halfpipe finals are also today and so there is a ton of people up here. There are tents all over with free stuff. JD and I walked around and checked out all the tents while Katie was practicing. We got to watch the pipe finals on the "jumbo" screen, which was pretty crazy. The pipe started getting really slushy and hard for the finalist's to ride, but they still threw down big tricks. Torah Bright won for the women, and Danny Kass won for the men. Katie had a really good practice and she is ready to destroy tomorrow!
By Ashley
Halfpipe Finals Nice and Sunny |
posted Mar 21, 2009 8:38 PM by Hans Hibbard
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updated Mar 23, 2009 9:46 PM
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Today we all decided to take a day off. Katie has all the practice time she needs before she has to compete Sunday. We woke up this morning, got breakfast, and got ready for our road trip. We decided to go to the city of Champlain first. It is only a couple hour drive and there are some cool things in that area.The first place we went was the Burton factory. It was a pretty big building with obviously a lot of Burton stuff, and also a lot of history.
After that we went down to a beach on Lake Champlain. It was pretty cold but we couldn't miss the opportunity to see such an amazing lake. It was crazy to see how big it was. On our way back to the car, we found these maply syrup cans on trees. After walking around in the woods looking at those cans I discovered my new least favorite thing in the world. I'm not sure what they are called but they are very annoying stickery type things that got stuck all over mine and everyone elses clothes.
Me on the Champlain Lake beach.
the Maple syrup buckets on the maple trees
Our next stop was lunch. We ended up eating at this organic grocery store. They had really good hot food and we were all satisfied. It would be nice to have one of those at home!
Lunch Buffet
The next place we went to was the Ben and Jerry's ice cream factory!
There was a lot of people there, and they were even doing tours of the place. We got some ice cream, snapped some photos, and then we were off again.
The Cabot cheese factory was next on our list so we stopped by and ate some free cheese samples.
Up the road a little bit is the Cold Hollow Cider Mill with probably the best apple cider samples ever and plenty of other jams and spreads to try.
Winding down on our day we took a pit stop at the Trapp family Lodge, where the Sound of Music was filmed and checked the place out and learned some of the families history.
All of this was the on the road that lead us up to Mt Stowe where Hans showed us some of his old stomping grounds. It looks like an awesome place to ride at.
After a long day of sight seeing we ventured back on a 3 hour drive to the Toll Road Inn. |
posted Mar 21, 2009 8:37 PM by Hans Hibbard
We got to sleep in again this morning because Katie has practice all day and competes on Sunday. The breakfast at are hotel isn’t very good but it works for us. Ashley and I stayed at the hotel while Hans and Katie went up to the mountain and practiced for a few hours.
By JD
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posted Mar 21, 2009 8:36 PM by Hans Hibbard
I competed today and luckily I was in heat 2 so everybody was stoked. During my practice which started at 12:30 I didn’t really do well and I started getting nervous. My first run I crashed which made me more nervous for my second run and on top of that it started to rain. I landed all of my tricks in my second run except on the last jump I crashed on the trick I was nailing in practice and smacked my head a bit. I’m bummed but I will get over it. Now we wait for Katie to compete on Sunday
By JD |
posted Mar 18, 2009 6:05 AM by Hans Hibbard
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updated Mar 22, 2009 7:42 AM
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We drove about an hour to Sratton, VT on Monday and found a motel room for the week. Monday was sunny and hot. We even stopped for ice cream. We woke up late at the lodge and checked for our breakfast that was never served. Instead, we drove to Rutland and picked up bagel, egg, and cheese sandwiches at a really tasty bagel shop. We arrived at Manchester, VT early enough that we could have registered but, it seemed more pleasant to relax in the motel room for a while instead. Unfortunately, we are still plagued by poor internet at the motel. After guessing the password for the wireless "press" internet at Stratton, we are set with some sweet speed while at the mountain.
Ashley, Katie, and JD in the lodge.
Yesterday we had to be on-snow by 1pm. It was difficult to get up that early but, we were already awake from the continental breakfast. The check-in process was lengthy so we didn't actually arrive at the top of the slope course until 1pm. Practice was hot and mushy. It was difficult for some riders to clear the jumps. As always, the sticky and soft snow turns bad habits into big problems. This moment is why we spend so much time practicing take-offs with no pre-spinning. It seems silly when you already know how to do a trick but, on a day like this, with this much on the line, it becomes clear that people who pre-spin land on the deck while people with clean take-offs easily clear the jumps.
There will be some video up later today. Hopefully some more photos and text too. |
posted Mar 15, 2009 8:49 AM by Hans Hibbard
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updated Mar 18, 2009 5:58 AM
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Looks like another great day up here at Killington! Blue bird and super warm. We got to sleep in again today because Katie's practice doesn't start until 12pm. It's really nice being on such a relaxed schedule. Katie has slope finals today and she's really pumped. She has a really good shot at doing well.
So Katie had a fall on her first run on the first jump, but held it together and still got her back 3 and front 3 on the final jumps. On her second run she did great on the rails and then slipped out in the slushy snow after the second rail. Besides that, her run was awesome. She did a stylie grab over the first jump, followed by a frontside 5 on the second, and then a switch backside 3 on the last jump! That's a sick run! We are all really proud of her and her performance and attitude. She ended up in 8th place, with a very questionable score.
cruising around the mt after finals, Katie looking cool
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posted Mar 14, 2009 11:07 AM by Hans Hibbard
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updated Mar 17, 2009 7:28 AM
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This morning we got to sleep in a bit, because luckily JD is in 2nd heat (which doesn’t start till 10), and Katie is in the women’s heat following that. It’s a great day for competing. The sun is shining and temperatures are supposed to get up to 44 degrees. I’m sitting in the lodge waiting to hear how everyone does.
Katie stomped her run and qualified into finals in 3rd place! She is super stoked! Slope finals will be tomorrow.
JD unfortunatley fell on both of his runs and didnt make it to finals. -Ashley
TOO BAD SHE COULDN'T HANG ON TO IT
Today was super warm and sunny and the snow was really slushy. This was definitley the warmest day of the week and the most fun. We are all stoked for Katie on her performance and so are we. The day is done and now Katie and Ashley are at the Reel Big Fish concert which is right outside the lodge. Hans and I are watching the concert inside on are computers. After concert all of us are just going to go home and hang out. -JD
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posted Mar 13, 2009 9:09 AM by Hans Hibbard
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updated Mar 17, 2009 6:47 AM
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Katie just finished her qualifying runs. A lack of pipe practice has been plaguing her this season. Her first had an early fall in the flat bottom. Her second run went well until her final air, a cab three, on which she slipped out on her heel edge and took a quick seat. She bounced back already and we'll be out shredding the slopestyle as soon as our bread bowl chili digests a bit.
by hans
So we went out to go practice for slopestyle, and the course was looking pretty sick. On the way down to slope, we were able to hit "the stash" park, which consists of features made out of trees. On our third run, everyone was feeling pretty good. Katie stomped the run she plans to do in competition tomorrow ( 270 onto the box, boardslide the handrail, straight air, back 3, front 3). JD was lovin the jumps and was working on back 9's for his run for the comp. I was also feeling pretty good on the jumps. It was our last run, and I went off the first jump not going fast enough, and a little off centered.
I ended up knuckling the jump and putting my arm behind me when I landed. Somehow I ended up with a pretty bloody nose and a cut face. I could tell something was not right with my arm not only by the pain but also because I could feel it move in places it shouldn't be. So lucky me got to go get sledded down to ski patrol where they told me my elbow was dislocated. It was definitely the most pain I've ever experienced. They took my coat off, and said they were going to try to pop it back into place. That sucked, but luckily it went in. Hans and I drove over to the clinic so I could get X-rays. The X-rays showed I also had chipped a bone in my elbow. The doc put me in a sling and said it will be 4-6 weeks before I can ride again. I'm pretty bummed about that.
Sometime in between all of that we found out Katie got 16th in pipe, she did a great job and is happy with her result. Ben Watts had a super good run and qualified 8th into finals! Katie and JD will be competing in slope tomorrow!
by ashley
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posted Mar 12, 2009 2:22 PM by Hans Hibbard
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updated Mar 21, 2009 8:14 PM
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The rain let up yesterday evening and was followed by frigid, cold weather. We knew the conditions would be icy today. Actually, Killington did a great job of tilling the courses and the snow was soft enough to do some real practice. The pipe and slopestyle here are what I'd call Large features. The pipe is the standard 22' walls but, the slopestyle is very different from a usual setup. One line of jumps are enormous step-downs with around a 20' drop from the apex of a rider's air. A line just to the left of the step-downs is true tabletop jumps the entire way down. I just cruised through the course once today so, I didn't get a good look at everything there. JD and Ashley took runs through the course for about a couple of hours. Katie competes in the pipe tomorrow and spent the day getting used to the icy pipe here.
A super cool church in Rutland. |
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